It is widely recognized that good thinking and problem solving skills need to be taught and appropriately supported. It is also widely recognized that effectively transferring thinking, perspectives, solutions, knowledge, viewpoints or other information from one thinker or problem solver (or group) to another thinker or problem solver (or group) is an important need. This is particularly true in the information-rich and rapidly changing environments that predominate today and are likely to do so in the future.
Such transferring or sharing is a need in many instances of conducting information-intensive projects or “inquiry based projects”, which at some point often involve the sharing or otherwise publishing of an output of some kind in order to communicate and share the solution, thinking, understanding, viewpoint, or information. This need is also seen in situations such as learning and professional development situations, as from one individual (or set of individuals) who may be more knowledgeable or in a sense expert than others, to another individual (or set of individuals) who may be less knowledgeable—as with the intent to have the less knowledgeable individual(s) “learn” the output.
The increasing amount of information available on the Internet—and the numerous media and information sources that most people face today—bring an increasing need for more compelling and effective ways of presenting and transferring knowledge, information, or perspectives about problems, solutions, viewpoints and other important factors from one individual or group to another individual or group. Information “overload” makes having forms of output that can stand out in the informational clutter even more important. This need arises in many different situations, for example, 1.) to convey a viewpoint about a problem or topic in a convincing or interesting manner in order to convince others; 2.) to provoke effective discussion and possible collaboration; 3.) to have others learn the knowledge and thinking or problem solving skills related to the material, problem or topic; and for other goals.
At least two characteristics that may assist in enhancing the effectiveness of such presentation or transfer include 1.) visual and multimedia appeal and movement (as with videos, for example); and 2.) making the material interactive as opposed to static or passive in the manner in which it is delivered and accessed.
With regard to the first characteristic, it is widely evident that the viewing of moving visuals—as in the popularity of videos, for example—is often more appealing than static images. The popularity of web sites like YouTube, the proliferation of video and movie distribution channels and mechanisms on various devices, and other factors, attest to the attractiveness of this media form. Similarly, the popularity of interactive games—whether delivered over the Internet or through other platforms and devices—similarly attest to the appeal and attractiveness of interactive as opposed to passive media forms.
From a learning perspective, it is well understood and documented that enhanced interactivity—such as is may be accomplished in simulations, game-like situations, or other interactive approaches—in many learning situations can help add to the motivation and comprehension of the learners. At a high level, those who actively participate, interact with or otherwise “do” (or take action with respect to content) retain significant greater information and levels of comprehension than those who just passively “listen to” or “look.” In addition, interactivity enables personalization of the learning experience to better fit the learner's needs.
For example, rich multimedia simulations have been built around very specific content areas, some placing the user(s) in a predefined problem situation, for example in the rain forest trying to determine why the natives are sick or playing the role of the President during the Vietnam War. Such problem solving simulations can be very appealing and motivating for the learner, due to their rich artistic or multimedia environments, for example. However, disadvantages of these specific multimedia simulations are that they are typically highly customized outputs to develop, and expensive and time consuming to build. In addition, their interactivity is typically only useful once or on an infrequent basis (the typically user will not want to “play or do” the rain forest problem many times), and the skills and understanding that is developed is usually narrowly focused on the subject matter covered in the simulation. These types of solutions therefore can be expensive or time consuming to develop, and relatively expensive for the learner(s) to use or purchase, as their usefulness is typically very targeted and not broadly applicable or useful.
Some systems and methods have attempted to improve the productivity of creating compelling presentational or learning materials by providing, for example, reusable systems or methods that assist in the creation or authoring of visually compelling presentational or interactive learning materials by a knowledgeable person/expert or group. An advantage of these materials creation assisting systems and methods is that a person/expert or group who has the requisite domain or topical knowledge can use the system and/or method multiple times to create multiple presentational or learning outputs with some form of interactivity for other users. However, although the author using these learning materials creation systems may achieve improved productivity in creating interactive or visually products, the author still must be highly knowledgeable of the content and desired outcomes before or outside of their use of the materials creation or authoring system.
At least two trends bring significant new challenges to the transfer of learning, knowledge, understanding, solutions or perspectives from one person or group to other person(s) or groups, and to the creation of compelling presentational or learning materials to do so. First, the growth of available information and knowledge is continuing to accelerate. Second, the problems, situations, and even disciplines that are the subject of presentational or learning transfer are in and of themselves changing rapidly. Many problem or topic areas are evolving rapidly in their understandings, or indeed even in the way they are defined. This may occur, for example, based on new discoveries or advances.
The combination of rapid information growth and rapid rates of change in problems, solutions, and even disciplines create significant increases in the amount and speed of knowledge transfer that must occur. This significantly increases the amount of work required to first assimilate and understand the new information and changes, and secondly to author or otherwise prepare material to be transferred from knowledgeable individuals or groups to those who need to know or learn the new material or perspectives. Just keeping up with updating learning materials from knowledgeable individuals or groups to learners could quickly overwhelm the time available to those who are most knowledgeable, and takes away from their time and focus on assimilating and making sense of the new information, or solving the new problems. In some cases, the information growth and change is so great that this can result in the need for additional job categories of individuals whose sole responsibility is learning or presentational materials creation and updating.
There is therefore a need for new systems and methods for creating compelling presentational, learning and knowledge or perspective transfer materials with a minimal amount of additional effort, especially for those dealing with new information and changing situations—quickly, easily, and in compelling forms that are attractive to receiving users. There is a further need for the presentational or learning materials that are used in such transfer situations to stand out and to embody the media characteristics that people find most attractive and appealing today, such as video or other animated visual characteristics, increased levels of interactivity in content, and others.